


Seedling

by panda_shi



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Comedy, Crack, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Post-War, Protective Parents, Stupidity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 20:31:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4849535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panda_shi/pseuds/panda_shi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kakashi (and Iruka) thought the that scrolls were finally sealed and something like <i>this</i> was never going to happen again. He should have just never trusted karma. Because clearly, he was being punished for <i>something</i>. It was almost unfair how he was always getting saddled with small children. How can Tenzou be so reckless! Stupid shit Kouhai.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seedling

**Author's Note:**

> Because why not, right? This can be considered as sequel (sort of) to [Pygmy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/488628) and [Pygmy II](Pygmy%20II). I will be making references to those two fics at some point(if not already), so safe to say they are all tied together. 
> 
> Note: KakaYama will be implied. Vaguely. Probably. We shall see!
> 
> This will be set in the time where Tenzou, if going by anime-filler-canon, has not yet broken out of his tube/container, has not not yet met his friend Yukimi and of course, Kakashi. Purely in the tube, growing in the tube, forever in the tube.

It was a surprise, even to Iruka.

School was closed for the summer and Iruka had to assume that was the primary reason he was called in by the Hokage, one fairly fine morning while he was still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and all giddy because Kakashi's team will be coming home that afternoon from a meeting in Sand, was for some sort of mission or assignment. The thin line on his leader's lips, the drumming of her nails and the little figure sitting on the chair in front of her desk should have been his clue.

He should be used to surprises like this by now. Five years wasn't a very long time.

"You remember Tenzou, don't you, Iruka? Or Yamato. Depending on how you refer to him with Kakashi." Tsunade asked, taking out a slip from his desk and scribbling on it with clean long strokes.

Automatically, Iruka looked at the little boy sitting on the too big a stiff chair. He barely made three feet, had bony knees and elbows, narrow shoulders and looked a little too thin for comfort. He also looked a little sick, weak around the edges, _too frail_ if Iruka dared to say it out loud. His hair was short and thin, long and uneven, falling till his shoulders. His eyebrows were a little too light, and his eyes -- big, large pools of black oil -- were wide and empty like black mirrors. 

The child looked like he was plucked, stuffed in a box and tossed to the bottom of a ravine. The boy looked sick and like utter _shit_.

The big hospital gown with printed swirls from the children's ward probably wasn't helping any. The color made the poor thing look even thinner and sicker.

"Hokage-sama, is he okay?" Iruka asked, just as Tsunade finished stamping a payslip and held it out for Iruka to take.

It was an authorized amount of money to be collected.

"He's fine. I'm not quite familiar with the whole time frame and series of events, Sandaime had been there the time. But he's likely three three years old,  roughly around the same time he was rescued from Orochimaru's laboratory or probably before he was rescued. I can't tell. Unfortunately, no amount tests can prove an exact time line. Not while he is alive at least." Tsunade sighed and nodded at the boy. "Physically, he's fine. Mentally though…"

Iruka tucked the payslip into his pocket. He already knew why he was called in. "I see…"

"The jutsu isn't ours. He was brought home by a teammate. It's a foreign variation of the time-compression jutsu that you and Kakashi got hit by years ago. Our own jutsus doesn't work on him and with little to no information, we can only wait it out while we try to reverse-engineer what we already know.”

Iruka was still looking at Tenzou and moved to kneel by the boy, so that they were at eyelevel.

"He doesn't speak, sensei." Tsunade sounded a little upset about that. "You know why I called you here."

Iruka didn’t respond immediately and instead gently tapped Tenzou's knee. The boy _jumped_ and froze up immediately looking at Iruka as if waiting to be hurt or dragged somewhere he didn't want to go.

Iruka felt his heart break at the sight.

"I do Hokage-sama. Please leave him to me." He stood up.

\--

Surprisingly, it didn't take much coaxing to get the incredibly frightened boy to walk out of the Hokage's office. Despite the initial frightened reaction, Tenzou was rather obedient and almost robotic. He didn't look at Iruka, gave little to no replies (mostly shrugs, head shakes and nods) and just tried to keep walking on shaky weak knees when Iruka lead him out to the streets.

The boy was _too_ weak, according to Tsunade. And it might have had something to do with the chemicals, radiation and gene altering experiments he was subjected to since infancy. While his vitals were normal, his strength seemed to be rather questionable.

When Tenzou nearly tripped for the third time, Iruka simply knelt beside him, spoke to him very gently and told him that he was going to carry him instead. Tenzou simply stared at him, even after Iruka picked him up. Half way through the groceries and picking up clothes from the store, only then did Tenzou figure out that by holding onto Iruka's shoulders, he was more comfortable.

Iruka was a little concerned by the boy's lack of movement.

Asking him what he wanted to eat and what he wanted to wear was downright pointless. The boy either didn't seem to understand or just didn't know how to answer. Iruka ended up getting a little bit of everything in terms of food since it was going to be either a hit or miss on that aspect, and went with common popular children's clothing for Tenzou.

He was supposed to protected and treated like a normal child after all because according to his records, Tenzou didn't start at the Academy till he was five like all kids back then. 

As far as Iruka was concerned, Tenzou was just another little boy who had no clue what the world was.

For the boy's sake, Iruka cursed Orochimaru to the lowest circle of hell.

Truth be told, Iruka wasn't honestly sure what to _do_ with Tenzou. 

The boy sat quietly as Iruka trimmed his hair and gave him a nice short cropped cut, something close to his usual grown up self; it made his face rounder, bigger. He said nothing after his bath, and once Iruka got him into a pair of green shorts and a white t-shirt with a bear print on the front. The boy also said nothing and simply stared at the sandwich and small colorful cup of milk. 

Iruka might have gotten a little excited in getting stuff for the boy to use. 

"Tenzou, you don't like your sandwich? You're not hungry? Would you like something else?"

Tenzou didn't respond _immediately_.

And Iruka was wondering if he should go make some noodles instead but he listened with a little amusement with his heart partially breaking when Tenzou's stomach _growled_ and the boy looked at his stomach then up and confused at Iruka.

"Like this, Tenzou." Iruka said gently, and made a miming gesture of eating a sandwich.

Iruka watched with a tight chest as Tenzou's little bony fingers moved unsurely towards the sandwich, picked it up and just stared at it for a while. It was a good minute later when Tenzou took a bite off it and chewed slowly. 

It also only took three bites before he placed the sandwich down and drained the rest of the milk, and looked up at Iruka, eyes wide.

"Full?"

Tenzou nodded.

"Want some dessert to wash it down?"

Tenzou blinked. He looked confused.

"Uhmm, like something sweet?"

Tenzou tilted his head.

Iruka _sighed_.

This was going to be rather interesting.

\-- 

Iruka was stepping out of the kitchen when he felt the wards buzz of the little home he and Kakashi shared for nearly a year after moving out of Iruka's apartment. He found Kakashi standing in the middle of the living room, looking at Tenzou who was sitting cross-legged on a floor cushion and had been watching the robins peck at the ground all afternoon.

On the same spot.

Unmoving.

Even after the robins flew home for the evening.

Save for now.

There was a mini showdown happening between child and man, Kakashi looking deadpanned and blank had it not been for the slight confused slump on his shoulder and the pinch between his eyebrows.

"Iruka?" Kakashi asked, blinking.

Tenzou simply blinked back.

"Why is there a child in our living room?"

Kakashi did sound puzzled. After all, the man was very aware that Iruka didn't tutor any kids at this time of the summer. That didn't start till the end of summer, _anyway_.

"This is Tenzou." Iruka ignored Kakashi's you're-kidding look. "Tenzou, this is Kakashi. He lives here too! Come say hello."

Iruka felt a little giddy when the boy stood up from his sitting position and bolted towards Iruka's leg, standing beside him and staring up at Kakashi.

The showdown continued.

Iruka had a feeling what was coming, if how Kakashi's gaze narrowed and how he shifted his weight to his other leg was any indication. 

Kakashi wasn't looking too happy about the prospect. 

Iruka's back straightened then and puffed his chest out a little bit and moved to stand between Tenzou and Kakashi, pulling the boy towards his leg a little protectively. 

"He's three years old - probably - and helpless. Tsunade-sama said this was roughly around the time before he was rescued from Orochimaru." 

There was a long moment of silence and it might have been slight, but Iruka felt his yukata being tugged a bit and Tenzou hiding further behind his leg, peering a little bit over at Kakashi. Iruka gently placed his hand on the boy's head then, ruffling the soft thin strands slowly to calm him down in case the boy was feeling a little distraught.

"Yare, yare…" Kakashi sighed and made a waving gesture and moved over towards Iruka, tugging him over by the waist and leaning to get his returning home kiss.

Iruka beat him to it and simply pecked Kakashi on the chin. "Get washed and changed. Dinner is almost ready. Come along, Tenzou. You can sit at the table~"

If Iruka felt Kakashi's stare boring into his back as he rounded the corner for the kitchen, he pretended not to notice.

His attention was too focused on trying to get the boy to smile and stop being so afraid.

\-- 

"Iruka, what are we doing?" Kakashi asked, peering from behind the doorframe with Iruka holding his hand quite tightly and attempting to keep him hidden.

It was just a little after afternoon-tea. Iruka had brought oranges and dango; Tenzou took a bite from both and that had been it.

"We are observing." 

Tenzou was in their garden, crouched and staring at something on the ground by the bushes.

"Iruka, he's been staring at a bush for about an hour now." Kakashi sounded a little fed up, despite the fact that he's been reading _It Icha Violence: Finale_ since they started observing.

"This is the first time Tenzou has stepped outside on his own! This is something, Kakashi! It's been a week and Tenzou is finally settling in his new home and _going out by himself_!"

"Iruka --"

"Look, he moved!" 

Tenzou scratched his head.

"He's scratching his head."

"He's never scratched his head before."

"You give him a bath _twice_ a day, Iruka."

Iruka glared at Kakashi. "Why are you being difficult?"

"Don't you think it would be better to actually engage with the kid instead of stalking him like this? He can probably hear us anyway." 

"Kakashi, the boy is clearly traumatized! Heavens knows what that horrid monster has done to him! Yesterday, when I took him to buy bread at the bakery? He refused to budge from the doorstep to step _outside_. When I asked him a few days ago if he wants to play at the park, he looked _terrified_. The park!" 

"Okay." Kakashi blinked. "And…?"

"This is the first time Tenzou has stepped outside into our garden _on his own._ It's a bit of a struggle to get him out of rooms, you know? But I suppose you wouldn't know seeing as you're not quite happy with having him in our home!" Iruka was upset. 

He had been trying his best to get Tenzou to warm up to him and there was a lot of improvement. Tenzou looked him in the eye more now, responded a little faster and with less hesitation and seemed to really favor the spot beside Iruka's right leg _a lot_. 

Other than that, Tenzou was still a bit of a weirdo.

"Iruka, let's not argue." Kakashi _sighed_ and flipped another page of his book.

"He has nowhere else to go!" 

"Iruka --"

Before Iruka could respond, there was a rustle and Tenzou disappeared _into the bushes_ in a bit of a tumble.

"Oh! Tenzou!" 

Iruka bolted. 

Kakashi just stared.

Before Iruka could reach the bushes, Tenzou popped up with leaves in his hair like a gopher from a gopher hole. 

Iruka was the one who jumped this time.

He also spent the afternoon scolding Kakashi for laughing at him for getting scared.

\-- 

In all fairness, Kakashi stopped reacting to Iruka’s fussiness and temper-tantrums about ‘taking care of Tenzou’ (read: babying) because Iruka didn’t _see_ him when he was the one taking care of the boy. There were hours when Iruka had to report in to the mission desk, sometimes to Tsunade and sometimes to consult with archivers during the day. And that left Kakashi with plenty of time to poke and prod the boy a little bit.

Tenzou had always been a little too comfortable being in ANBU, like he was bred and made to be nothing _but_ ANBU. By definition, Tenzou had been a child still when he joined the forces, but for ANBU and back during the days where war teetered around the edges of time, there was no definition of young or old. ANBU was just ANBU.

Tenzou almost _never_ took his Cat-mask off. _Never_.

It was like taking it off meant being something else other than what he really was -- ANBU Cat. 

So Iruka didn’t know that Kakashi tried to do little things to coax the boy out of his... weirdness.

Like today.

Iruka was at an Academy-staff meeting (something about auditing budgets), and that left Kakashi and Tenzou all on their own in the Hatake-Umino household. Tenzou was sitting in the middle of the garden. The boy was so still that there were birds perched on his head and on one knee. 

When another bird came to perch on Tenzou’s shoulder, Kakashi clapped his book shut and made his way towards the boy, a small palm sized picture book about the different kinds of native flowers that were common in Fire in hand. Before all the birds could fly away, Kakashi caught one of them and offered it to Tenzou when he crouched in front of the boy.

Tenzou took it in his palms, stared at it then let it flutter away.

“How’s your chia-plant?” Kakashi asked -- he had gotten it as an experiment and hit gold when Tenzou looked rather curious? fascinated? when they sprouted with a little watering.

Tenzou nodded twice. 

Kakashi translated that to, _it’s good._

“Here.” Kakashi held the book between his fingers, dangling in front of Tenzou.

There was a picture of a flower on the front cover and when Tenzou made no movement to take it just yet, Kakashi flipped a page open and pointed at a picture of a lily. “See that? It’s Iruka’s favorite. I don’t really have a favorite.” 

Which wasn’t entirely true because if Kakashi _had_ to pick _one_ , he would have to say sunflowers, if only because they turn to face the direction of the sun and if anything, his sun was no other than Iruka.

Kakashi felt his brain stray a little towards how ‘sunny’ Iruka can get after having his cock sucked but the thought was immediately swatted away when Tenzou reached out for the book and settled it on his lap, flipping through the pages. 

Kakashi patted his head gently and left him like that, heading back indoors now that he accomplished what he had intended to do, once more striking gold. 

It wasn’t till hours later, a little before lunch time that he remembered that he was supposed to pick some vegetables from the market along with a chicken to roast for dinner. Iruka did mention that if he wasn’t back by noon, he should buy the things and maybe go ahead and have lunch with Tenzou. It was very well way past noon and Kakashi had given Tenzou an apple and a glass of milk (boy was too thin and _small_ for his age) to snack on while he waited and got carried away reading about Junko discovering she was a princess and that her two sisters were actually were only related to her by adoption. Kakashi waited to see if Junko and the enslaved king that was her personal slave was ever going to live happily ever after when he remembered he had to get lunch.

And he was in the good part too.

“Tenzou, we’re going to get lunch. Get your shoes on.” He called out and watched as the boy looked up from his book, still right there in the garden (except Tenzou moved to sit under the sycamore tree by their koi pond instead) and sat there looking at Kakashi from across the garden mutely.

When Kakashi had strapped on everything and padded downstairs to get his shoes, he found Tenzou struggling with the buckle of his sandals.

“Yare, yare, here...” Kakashi crouched before the boy, switched the shoes to their proper sides on Tenzou’s feet and buckled them in place. “All set?”

Tenzou nodded once.

If Kakashi was being honest, Tenzou was about as obedient as a well trained dog. He stood beside Kakashi’s right side while they walked down the streets of the market while Kakashi purchased what Iruka asked for. When Kakashi walked fast, Tenzou tried to run to match his strides. When he walked super slow, Tenzou easily matched the pace and occasionally bumped into Kakashi’s leg. During the times when Kakashi had the pleasure of taking Tenzou out (which was rare because Iruka did _all that_ ), he always experimented to observe the boy’s reaction to things.

Like today.

It was after Kakashi got the last of the butternut-squash that Iruka asked for did he promptly decide to vanish and watch from a safe distance, leaving Tenzou in the middle of the street in the bustle and hustle of Konoha’s shoppers. They boy had been staring at a flower stall for a long time now and every time they walked, his head was turned in that direction. 

Five minutes later, Tenzou turned and started to look around in what Kakashi recognised as a child’s panic; after all. Kakashi had plenty of experience with that during the time Iruka had shrunk to his three year old self. Tenzou proceeded to head towards the butternut-squash stall and looked under it. Then moved to look behind the big lady selling at said stall and also looked under her skirt. Kakashi wasn’t sure what to make of that found it quite amusing. Tenzou then returned to the same spot he had been on in the street and waited. 

And waited.

And then started to chew his nails.

Kakashi chose that time to appear beside the boy, hand lightly coming to rest on the crown of Tenzou’s head. “Wandering, hm?”

Tenzou’s head snapped back up and for a moment, Kakashi thought he was going to cry. But instead, Tenzou shook his head.

Today was quite interesting.

“We should get some lunch. Do you see something you like to eat?” 

Tenzou simply pointed at the flower stall.

“You can’t eat those.” Kakashi’s lips curved up under his mask, amusement softening his visible eye.

But Tenzou kept pointing anyway and when Kakashi said that they were flowers and that they’re not meant for eating, Tenzou started to manhandle him by dragging him to the tall via tugging his hand. Kakashi moved with him, just to see what the boy was going to do and once they were in front of the flower stall, Tenzou pointed at the bunch of white lilies.

Kakashi finally understood with a mental, _oh_.

“Ah, I see. Which one should we get?" 

Tenzou stared at the lilies for a while, very focused and very concentrated before pointing at the _biggest_ one he can find amongst the bunch. Nothing else was said as the florist wraps up the flower in red paper and cellophane, handed it to Kakashi who simply shook his head and gestured to the boy instead, cash forked over and much to Kakashi’s amusement, he had to nudge Tenzou away from where he was standing. Tenzou was holding the wrapped flower with both his hands, away from him as if he was afraid to damage or wrinkle the wrapping. He kept walking like that too, all the way to the small hole in the wall restaurant where Kakashi frequented because they made good home made meals and barely even paid attention to the rice and fish that was placed before him.

Tenzou really loved to stare.

It was almost creepy.

“Tenzou, you need to eat your food.” Kakashi prodded after deciding that he was bored of staring at Tenzou stare at his flower. 

Tenzou looked up at him for the first time, then at the food in front of him. There was a moment of hesitation as he carefully set the flower down on the table and then something that looked like confusion and panic streak across his pale face. He did not know what to do and when he picked up the chopsticks after looking at how Kakashi was holding his chopsticks, and attempted to poke at his rice, he ended up making a mess and dropping the chopsticks all together.

Kakashi felt a frown etch on his features. He wasn’t very sure of the timeline of when or what this Tenzou had gone through, but back then, when Kakashi had met him for the first time, Tenzou most definitely had skills. He knew how to fight, too. 

Earlier years then, when he had no training. 

But Tenzou was young as well, back then when Kakashi first met him. 

Tenzou did not know what to do with himself and simply ended up sitting there looking at Kakashi with a stricken expression. Kakashi’s face melted away to a smile, visible eye curving to a perfect crescent. Kakashi waved a hand, as if to say it didn’t matter at all if the grains were all over the table and the chopsticks were on the floor. He tugged the high chair closer to him and opened a new pair of chopsticks, waving it once in front of Tenzou and carefully started to feed the boy.

Tenzou ate his rice but took one bite of the fish and then refused to open his after that. 

“You don’t like the fish?” Kakashi asked, wondering what was wrong with piece of grilled fish, it didn’t exactly smell funny and Kakashi ate the same thing earlier. Tenzou said nothing as usual and simply looked away. 

Well, if Tenzou wanted to eat rice, Kakashi wasn’t going to stop him. By the time Tenzou was done, he had only eaten a quarter of the rice bowl. 

Tenzou also refused water.

Kakashi decided it was time to change tactics.

Clearly, Tenzou was not like him in preferences because as a child, these were the things Kakashi ate. Simple, basic, nutritious and nothing too overpowering on the palate. Iruka on the other hand loved his sugar, his spice and rich flavoured dishes like curry-rice. 

“Iruka should be out soon. We can go wait for him. Do you want to do that?” Kakashi asked and watched with barely concealed amusement when that seemed to have gotten Tenzou’s attention and wide dark eyes looked up at him like he was the best guy in the world.

Kakashi felt nostalgia then, about a time when three foot tall Iruka had beamed up at him like he was the saviour of mankind, the hero of heroes, the best man in the world.

“Come on. You can play on the Academy swing if you want.”

When Tenzou simply gave Kakashi a head tilt, that Kakashi dubbed the what-head-tilt, Kakashi almost smacked himself in the head for that blunder.

Of course. Tenzou had no fucking clue what a swing was.

_Of course._

 

TBC


End file.
